My thinking...

I think one of the most important new terms/concepts that I have been introduced to in this class is the notion of "codes of power." I had definitely thought about this concept before but did not know how to refer to it before..I think I probably thought of it as "white privilege." Now I'm trying to iron out the difference between the two...are they the same? Or are they different? Is white privilege something that is inherent in being white? Do we say that white privilege extends even to poor or uneducated white people, even though they may lack the "codes of power" that will help them attain "success" as our society defines it (a.k.a economically)? Do poor white people, because of their skin color, automatically "have it better" than poor black people? If so, to me, codes of power and white privilege are not the same thing, since the power comes from being white, and the codes are learned (albeit, oftentimes automatically because of whiteness). I'm not sure if any of these questions have a "correct" answer, but either way, the term "codes of power" is a helpful tool for me to situate myself in the context of the American public educational system (and in a/my future classroom!).

I'm not sure I have any concept of what the term "higher-order thinking" suggests/encompasses/means. Is this the type of thinking that comes from knowing the codes of power?

I am also curious about the term "class," which I (and probably all of us) use a lot but have never actually sat down and defined. Is it defined by social skills? Knowledge? Academic achievement? Money? Power? Lack thereof? What's the "middle" in middle class mean? I guess there can be spectrums of "class" for each of these factors, but I think it would be interesting to hear what we all think about this seemingly simple and yet fully-loaded word.

Since I'm the first poster...I may comment on some of your posts...hope this gets the ball rolling.